Plant extracts have been used in African folk medicine to treat a wide array of infections, especially in Nigeria, for centuries. This article considers the potential medicinal uses and efficacy of the flavonoids epigallocatechin and epicatechin, which can be extracted from the Spondias mombin plant.

Plants that have known medicinal properties are plentiful in Africa, and primary healthcare in the developing world has, since ancient times, relied heavily on their cultivation and use. Increasingly, too, the uses and effects of medicinal plants are becoming of interest globally.